Method for selection and routing of an outbound voice call to an appropriate network for completion

ABSTRACT

A method of initiating a call includes receiving an identifier associated with a called party, the identifier being generated by a telephone handset. The method further includes determining a network category associated with the called party and generating an instruction to initiate a call by the telephone handset on one of at least two networks accessible for communication by the telephone handset. The one of at least two networks is selected by the instruction in response to the determined network category associated with the called party.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of the invention relates in general to telecommunications, andmore particularly to a system and method for call connection.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The advent of digital packet-based telephony has created a situationwhere many telecommunications service providers providetelecommunications services, including voice services, over two or moretypes of networks. For example, in addition to providing customers withvoice services over an analog network such as a PSTN network, manyproviders provide voice services over a digital network such as anInternet Protocol network. Thus, many providers are forced to maintaintwo networks for voice communications. Similarly, consumers now havemany different options available for voice services, including cellphones, analog phones, VoIP phones, and WiFi enabled phones. Manyconsumers have three or four options available when wanting to place orreceive a voice call—some or all of which may be provided to them by thesame provider of bundled services. In a complex environment ofinterconnected networks, calls initiated over one type of network arefrequently completed or otherwise carried over a different type ofnetwork. For example, someone using a PSTN network may be dialingsomeone's VoIP telephone, which requires at some point a conversion orformat change between network types. As a result, each time a call iscarried by more than one type of network, the costs and technicalcomplexities of connecting such a call may increase for a serviceprovider.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment of the present invention, a method of initiating acall is disclosed that includes receiving an identifier associated witha called party, the identifier being generated by a telephone handset.The method further includes determining a network category associatedwith the called party and generating an instruction to initiate a callby the telephone handset on one of at least two networks accessible forcommunication by the telephone handset. The one of at least two networksis selected by the instruction in response to the determined networkcategory associated with the called party.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Illustrative embodiments of the present invention are described indetail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, which areincorporated by reference herein and wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a system that includes a telephonedevice in communication with a cell network, a PSTN network, an IPnetwork, and a wireless network;

FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of a table of connection informationassociated with particular called parties;

FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of a system which includes telephonedevices, PSTN networks, IP networks, and a network device;

FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of a configuration of a telephonedevice utilized to conduct network communications;

FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of a base station that includes adatabase, a processor, a network interface, and decision logic;

FIG. 6 illustrates one embodiment of an access device which includes adatabase, a processor, and a network interface;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart which illustrates one embodiment of a networkcategory which includes an identifier associated with a called partythat is received either directly or indirectly from a telephone handset;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart which illustrates one embodiment of a process forinitiating a voice call over a network;

FIG. 9 illustrates one embodiment of a system for routing incoming callsto an appropriate network connection of a called party; and

FIG. 10 is a flow chart which illustrates one embodiment of a processfor directing incoming voice calls to a particular network connectionassociated with a called party.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, like or similar elements are designated with identicalreference numerals throughout the several views and figures thereof, andvarious depicted elements may not be drawn necessarily to scale.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 10 implemented in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. System 10 includes a telephonedevice 20 in communication with a cell network 30, a PSTN network 40, anIP network 50, and a wireless network 60. Telephone device 20 alsocommunicates with a network device 70 over one or more of networks 30,40, 50, and 60. In general, telephone device 20 queries network device70 in order to select one of networks 30, 40, 50, or 60 with which toinitiate a voice call between telephone device 20 and another telephonedevice (not illustrated) of a called party. In such a manner, telephonedevice 20 associated with a calling party can initiate the communicationof a voice call using a telecommunications network based on the type oftelecommunications network that the telephone device of the called partyuses to communicate voice calls.

Telephone device 20 includes a telephone handset 22, a base station 24,an access device 26, a network interface 28, and a called ID component29. The components of telephone device 20 are provided for illustrativepurposes. In alternative embodiments, telephone device 20 may includemore or less components than are illustrated in FIG. 1. Althoughillustrated as a single device, telephone device 20 may be one or morediscrete devices or distributed functionality implemented using hardwareand/or software. In operation, telephone handset 22 may access one ofnetworks 30, 40, 50, or 60 through one or more of base station 24,access device 26, and network interface 28.

Telephone handset 22 may be any handset, client, or other user interfaceutilized by a user to communicate over one of networks 30, 40, 50, or60. In one embodiment, telephone handset 22 may be utilized tocommunicate voice communications. Alternatively or additionally,telephone handset 22 may be utilized to communicate using pictures,video, text, email, or other messaging functionality. In one embodiment,telephone handset 22 is a wireless handset communicating through basestation 24 to one or more of networks 30, 40, 50, or 60.

Base station 24 is a wireless base station that allows telephone handset22 to access one of networks 30, 40, 50, or 60 wirelessly using anysuitable wireless protocol. For example, telephone handset 22 and basestation 24 may communicate using WiFi, WiMax, Bluetooth, CDMA, or anyother wireless format. Base station 24 may itself communicate eitherwired or wirelessly to network 30, network 40, network 50, or network60. For purposes of this application, the term “wired” is meant to implyany type of communication other than communication conducted over air.For example, wired may imply a physical wire, a twisted pair connection,an optical fiber connection, or any other suitable physical link. In oneembodiment, base station 24 may communicate with networks 30, 40, 50, or60 using access device 26 or network interface 28.

Access device 26 may be an integrated access device allowing multipletypes of communications to be processed by access device 26 andcommunicated over one or more of networks 30, 40, 50, or 60. Forexample, access device 26 may allow voice communications to be conductedover a twisted pair phone line or over a connection to an InternetProtocol network using, for example, voice-over Internet Protocol (IP).Access device 26 may include a DSL modem such that voice and datacommunications can both be communicated over one of networks 30, 40, 50,or 60. In one embodiment, access device 26 may be a modem suitable forallowing communication by any telephone handset 22 to one or more ofnetworks 30, 40, 50, or 60. For example, access device 26 may include atransceiver capable of communicating with cell network 30, an interfaceto a twisted pair connection allowing communication over PSTN network40, a DSL modem, or cable router allowing communication over IP network50, and/or an additional transceiver allowing communication over analternative wireless network such as wireless network 60 that is, forexample, a WiFi network or WiMax network.

Network interface 28 is a hardware and/or software interface that allowstelephone handset 22 to communicate with a specific network such asnetwork 30, network 40, network 50, or network 60. For example, networkinterface 28 may be a network interface card that allows communicationover a local area network, an Ethernet connection, or directly to one ofnetworks 30, 40, 50, or 60.

The descriptions of base station 24, access device 26, and networkinterface 28 are intended to be representative of examples of means inwhich telephone handset 22 may communicate with alternative networksthat are available to a user for connecting communications, and are notintended to be limiting in scope.

Called ID component 29 may be a traditional caller ID component thatidentifies by name, telephone number, or geography the source of anincoming voice, text, video, email, or other messaging communication.However, in one embodiment of the present invention, called ID component29 functions in reverse. More specifically, called ID component 29 mayinstead identify the name, telephone number, or geographic location of auser or device to which an outbound communication is directed. Forexample, if a telephone number is dialed on telephone handset 22, priorto the call being connected, or as the call is being connected, calledID component 29 may display the name, telephone number or location ofthe user or device being called. In one embodiment, called ID component29 also indicates the type of network connection the called party hasavailable over which to conduct voice calls. For example, a particularcalled party may only be able to receive voice calls over PSTN network40. Alternatively, the called party may be able to receive calls overcell network 30, PSTN network 40, or IP network 50. As voice-over IPcalls become more common, many users of telecommunications services may,for example, have both connections over a PSTN network 40 and an IPnetwork 50 that they may use to conduct voice calls. In such anembodiment, called ID component 29 is capable of displaying one or moreof the networks known to be available to the called party. Althoughillustrated as a separate component to telephone handset 22, called IDcomponent 29 may be integrated with telephone handset 22. Alternatively,the functionality provided by called ID component 29 may be included inan alternative local or remote network device such as network device 70with information being communicated to and displayed on telephonehandset 22.

In one embodiment, called ID component 29 may be utilized to display aparticular name, telephone number, geographic location, or, as describedabove, networks accessible by a called party. In an alternativeembodiment, called ID component 29 may instead or additionallycommunicate such information to telephone handset 22, base station 24,access device 26, or network interface 28 to allow decision logic in oneor more of such devices to select a particular network with which atelephone handset 22 will initiate a telephone call to the called party.For example, if called ID component 29 indicates that a called party hasboth an IP network 50 and a PSTN network 40 with which they can receivevoice calls, telephone handset 22 may elect to use IP network 50 becauseof a lower cost, better network performance, indicated preference, orother reason. Similarly, network matching may occur, such that one oftelephone handset 22, base station 24, access device 26, or networkinterface 28 may select a network connection of the same category as thenetwork (a “network category”) of the called party. A network categoryis any classification category, type or grouping of networks sharing atleast one characteristic or similarity such as, for example, the use ofthe same or similar protocol, being provided by the same serviceprovider, using the same communications medium (i.e., both wireless,both fiber), both having access to the same network, both having atleast a certain level of security, or any other suitable technical,business or assigned characteristic or similarity. In anotherembodiment, networks can be assigned by a network administrator or userto a particular network category where such assignment is the only orone of the shared characteristic. In one embodiment, categories may bedigital and analog or two or more of PSTN, IP, cellular, and WiFi.Network categories may be nested such that there are subcategories. Inyet another embodiment, network categories may be created in response tocommunications between the included networks being of a particularrelative or actual cost, type (voice, data, video, etc.), or quality ofservice. In one embodiment, called ID component 29 may indicate that twodifferent telephone numbers, network addresses, or other identifiedconnections are available to communicate with a particular called party,one of which is associated with communication over an IP network and oneof which is associated with a PSTN network. In such an embodiment,telephone handset 22, base station 24, access device 26, or networkinterface 28 may include decision logic that selects the appropriatenetwork IP Network 50 or PSTN network 40 with which to connect the callthat has a category that matches the category of network associated withthe telephone number being dialed by telephone handset 22.

Cell network 30 is a wireless network made available to a user oftelephone device 20 by a wireless service provider and may be, forexample, a CDMA network. Alternatively, cell network 30 may be anywireless network accessible to telephone device 20.

PSTN network 40 is a TDM network utilized by traditional wire carriersoffering local and long distance telephone service. In one embodiment,PSTN network 40 is an analog network wherein voice communications arecommunicated over a twisted pair between a residence or other customerpremises and a switching station or central office of a telephoneservice provider.

IP network 50 is a digital packet network wherein voice and datacommunications are communicated using one or more packets. In oneembodiment, IP network 50 is a packet network that operates usingpackets communicated according to the Internet Protocol. For example, IPnetwork 50 may communicate voice traffic using voice over InternetProtocol.

Wireless network 60 is a wireless network that is alternatively oradditionally available to a user of cell network 30. For example,wireless network 60 may be a WiFi or WiMax network available in the samelocation as cell network 30 or in locations where cell network 30 is notavailable. For example, wireless network 60 may be a wireless hotspotlocated within a particular town, community, or facility such as anairport.

In one embodiment, network device 70 may be a network switch.Alternatively, network device 70 may be a router, feature server, or anyother suitable network device. Network device 70 may be a standalonenetwork device or may instead be functionality included in any othernetwork device. Network device 70 includes a database 72 and a processor74. Database 72 may be any memory structure or device. Processor 74 is acentral processing unit, special purpose processor, digital controller,ASIC, or any other combination of hardware and software capable ofexecuting instructions or logic.

Database 72 includes one or more called party entries 76. Called partyentries 76 each include an identifier associated with a particularcalled party. Each called party entry 76 also includes a networkcategory associated with such identifier. In operation, network device70 may be utilized to determine a network category that a particularcalled party uses to conduct voice calls or other communications.

FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of a table 80 of called party entries.Table 80 illustrates a table of connection information associated withparticular called parties. More particularly, relative to a particularcalled party, table 80 may illustrate an identifier 82, networks 84,addresses 86, and network categories 88.

In one embodiment, identifier 82 is a telephone number or networkaddress such as an IP address associated with a called party.Alternatively, identifier 82 may be a name. However, identifier 82 maybe any suitable identifier such as an alphanumeric sequence.

Networks 84 identify particular telephone communications networks thatthe associated called party may use to access telecommunicationservices, such as voice services. For example, networks 84 may include aparticular Internet Protocol network associated with a called party'sInternet service provider, a particular PSTN network of the calledparty's traditional local telephone provider, or a particular cellnetwork used by the called party for cell phone services.

Addresses 86 may include any information utilized to dial or address acommunication to a particular called party relative to each of thenetworks used by such called party. For example, a voice over IP voicecommunication on an IP network may have an address 86 of an IP address.Alternatively, a called party may have an address 86 of a ten digittelephone number for their PSTN network access. Alternatively, aparticular called party may utilize an email address as an address 86for voice over IP calls connected to them over an IP network. In oneembodiment, identifier 82 is the same as address 86.

Network categories 88 include network categories associated with eachparticular network 84. For example, a particular network category 88 maybe an IP network, a PSTN network, a cell network, a WiFi network, orsome other wired or wireless network.

In one embodiment, table 80 may be stored on a network device such asnetwork device 70 of FIG. 1. Alternatively, table 80 may be stored onanother device located anywhere in a network or at the residence orbusiness premises of a user. For example, table 80 may be stored andincluded as part of called ID component 29 of FIG. 1. Alternatively,table 80 may be stored in whole or in part in base station 24, accessdevice 26, or network device 28 of FIG. 1.

In one embodiment, table 80 may be utilized to select a particularnetwork that a called party utilizes for telecommunications services,such as voice communications. For example, in response to querying table80, a device used by a calling party or a network may determine that acall should be placed to an address 86 associated with an IP networkinstead of using a PSTN network, or vice-versa. In such a manner, thematching of network categories may be conducted. For example, a callingparty may dial a telephone number of a called party associated with suchcalled party's PSTN network. In response to querying table 80, decisionlogic may be executed to cause the call request initiated by the dialingof the telephone number to be converted into a call connection requestto a different address 86 over an IP network. This decision may be made,for example, in response to the calling party using voice-over InternetProtocol to initiate the call and a desire to have the called party alsoutilize voice-over Internet Protocol to conduct the voice communication.In such a manner, transitioning from a PSTN network to an IP network orvice-versa may be eliminated such that a voice-over Internet Protocolmay be utilized to accomplish the call on an end-to-end basis from thecalling party to the called party. In such a manner, any conversion fromone call format or protocol to another call format or protocol may beeliminated.

FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of a system 100 for implementingvarious features of the present invention. System 100 includes atelephone device 120, a telephone device 125, a PSTN network 140, a PSTNnetwork 145, an IP network 150, an IP network 155, and a network device170. In general, telephone device 120 may communicate with networkdevice 170 over IP network 150 or PSTN network 140. Telephone device 120may communicate with telephone device 125 over IP network 150, IPnetwork 155, PSTN network 140, and PSTN network 145.

Telephone device 120 includes a network interface 128. Network interface128 may be any suitable network interface, such as network interface 28described in FIG. 1.

In operation, a calling party using telephone device 120 desiring toinitiate voice communications with a called party using telephone device125 first dials a telephone number or selects an identifier associatedwith the called party and/or telephone device 125. For purposes of thisFIG. 3, such telephone number or other identifier shall be referred togenerally as an identifier. Telephone device 120 may communicate suchidentifier to network device 170 over IP network 120 or PSTN network140. Network device 170, when receiving such identifier, determines thetype of network connections available to the called party or telephonedevice 125. More particularly, network device 170 may query telephonedevice 125 and/or a network device associated with telephone device 125in order to determine the networks used by telephone device 125 toconduct voice services. Alternatively, network device 170 may have suchinformation stored within network device 170 or elsewhere on a network.In one embodiment, network device 170 uses a table, such as table 80 ofcalled party entries described in FIG. 2, to determine a networkcategory of the called party or telephone device 125. Network device 170then communicates that network category back to telephone device 120.Telephone device 120 then utilizes such network category to select itsown network for communicating a voice call to telephone device 125. Oncetelephone device 120 has selected such network, network interface 128initiates or selects the appropriate connection to initiate the voicecall over the selected network. For example, telephone device 120 mayreceive a communication from network device 170 that telephone device125 may communicate over IP network 155. In response to receiving suchinformation, telephone device 120 may then select IP network 150 toengage in matching of network categories by selecting an IP network tocommunicate with another IP network.

FIG. 4 illustrates one configuration of a telephone device 200 utilizedto conduct network communications, such as voice communications. Moreparticularly, telephone device 200 includes a handset 210 incommunication with a base station 220 that in turn communicates with anaccess device 230, which can in turn communicate over a PSTN network 240or an IP network 250. In such an embodiment, access device 230 may beutilized by handset 210 to initiate a voice call over PSTN network 240or IP network 250. Upon a telephone number being dialed or an identifierbeing selected by handset 210, such telephone number or identifier iscommunicated using base station 220 to access device 230. Access device230 then determines locally, or by communicating with a remote device,whether or not access device 230 should connect the voice call to PSTNnetwork 240 or IP network 250 in response to the particular telephonenumber or identifier received from handset 210.

FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of a base station 300 implemented inaccordance with the teachings of the present invention. Base station 300includes a database 302, a processor 304, a network interface 306, anddecision logic 308. Database 302 is any memory structure or device.Processor 304 is a central processing unit, special purpose processor,digital controller, ASIC, or any other suitable processing device orcomponent. Network interface 306 is any suitable network interface suchas network interface 28 described FIG. 1. Decision logic 308 may be anysuitable decision logic implemented in software or hardware. Forexample, decision logic 308 may be stored as computer instructions insoftware, or may be implemented in hardware by an ASIC or other suitablehardware component.

Base station 300 communicates with IP network 340 and PSTN network 350to communicate voice calls. In the illustrated embodiment, base station300 is capable of storing similar information to that illustrated withregard to table 80 of called party entries as described in FIG. 2. Insuch a manner, a local directory of identifiers of called parties may beutilized to determine particular networks used by such called partiesfor network communications such as voice communications. Upon receivinga call from a handset in communication with base station 300, basestation 300 may determine, based on a telephone number or identifier,the associated network category of a network used by a called party. Inresponse to such determination, base station 300 may then select PSTNnetwork 340 or IP network 350 over which to initiate a voice call. Aspreviously described, such selection can be based on the desire to matchnetwork categories, either alone or in combination with other factorssuch as cost to a user or a network service provider, quality ofservice, or type of data being communicated. As previously described,for example, while a user may typically initiate calls over IP network350 using a voice-over Internet Protocol, the call may be insteadinitiated over PSTN network 340 in response to a determination that thecalled party only communicates voice calls over a PSTN network. Thus,decision logic 308 may be executed by processor 304 to access database302 to determine a particular network category associated with a calledparty to which a telephone call is directed, and may then executefurther decision logic 308 in order to instruct network interface 306 toselect one of IP network 350 or PSTN network 340 to initiate a voicecall to a called party.

FIG. 6 illustrates one embodiment of an access device implementedaccording to the teachings of the present invention. An access device400 includes a database 442, a processor 444, and a network interface446. Upon receiving a call from a handset, base station, or other deviceutilized to initiate or communicate a voice call, access device 400 maydetermine from an identifier or telephone number the category of anetwork utilized by a called party to conduct voice communications in amanner similar to that described relative to FIG. 5. Thus, processor 444may access identifiers in database 442 to determine a network categoryassociated with a particular called party. Processor 444 may theninstruct network interface 446 to communicate the voice call over aparticular category of network.

FIG. 7 illustrates one embodiment of a process for determining a networkcategory associated with a called party according to the teachings ofthe present invention. In step 710, an identifier associated with acalled party is received either directly or indirectly from a telephonehandset. In step 720, a network category associated with the calledparty is determined. Such network category can be determined by queryinga network or device associated with the called party, by using adatabase or table such as a directory of identifiers or telephonenumbers storing network categories associated with such identifiers ortelephone numbers, or by accessing a home location register, visitorlocation register, network directory, call control manager directory, orany other suitable means. In step 730, an instruction operable toinitiate a call on a particular network is generated in response to thedetermined network category associated with the called party. Forexample, the instruction may initiate the voice call over an IP networkwhen both a PSTN network and an IP network are available in response tothe called party having an IP network available for voicecommunications.

FIG. 8 illustrates one embodiment of a process for initiating a voicecall over a network in accordance with the teachings of the presentinvention. In step 810, an identifier is received from a handset. Instep 820, dialing information such as a number or address associatedwith the identifier is determined. In step 830, a determination is madeof whether a device for a called party associated with the dialinginformation can communicate over a voice-over Internet Protocol network.In step 840, a selection of a voice-over Internet Protocol network or analternative network is made in response to determining if the dialinginformation is associated with a device or called party accessible via avoice-over Internet Protocol network. In step 850, a voice call isinitiated over the selected network.

FIG. 9 illustrates one embodiment of a system 900 for routing incomingcalls to an appropriate network connection of a called party. System 900includes a wireless network 902, a PSTN network 904, and an IP network906. Wireless network 902 is in communication with a wireless network916 over a router 908. Similarly, PSTN network 904 is in communicationwith a PSTN network 918 over a router 910. IP network 906 is incommunication with an IP network 920 over a router 912. Although notillustrated herein, either within one of the networks identified insystem 900 or between any two networks illustrated in system 900,additional network elements may be disposed such as gateways, switches,additional routers, edge devices, or network-to-network interfaces(NNIs). Routers 908, 910, and 912 may be in communication with a networkdevice 914. Telephone device 922 is in communication with one or more ofwireless network 916, PSTN network 918, and IP network 920. Althoughillustrated as being in communication with all of such networks, certainembodiments of the present invention may include telephone device 922being in communication with only one of such networks, a subset of suchnetworks, or such networks and additional networks.

Wireless network 902 and wireless network 916 may be any suitablewireless network, as previously described relative to wireless network60 in FIG. 1. PSTN network 904 and PSTN network 918 are similar to PSTNnetwork 40 described in FIG. 1. Similarly, IP network 906 and IP network920 may be any suitable digital packet network, as described relative toIP network 50 in FIG. 1.

Router 908, router 910, and router 912, although illustrated as routers,may be any switch, gateway, MSC, or other network device suitable forrouting or switching calls between the networks illustrated in system900.

Network device 914 may be a standalone network device or part of anintegrated network device providing additional functionality. In oneembodiment, network device 914 may be similar to network device 70described relative to FIG. 1. In an alternative embodiment, thefunctionality provided by network device 914 may be included within analternative network element such as router 908, router 910, or router912. Network device 914 includes a table 980 of called party entries.Table 980 of called party entries includes one or more identifiersassociated with users of system 900. For example, in one embodiment,system 900 may include the network connections of a particulartelecommunications service provider providing wireless, PSTN, and IPnetwork services. In such an embodiment, one or more subscribers of suchnetwork services may be included in table 980 and referenced byassociated identifiers. Each identifier may identify one or morecategories of network services utilized by such subscriber. For example,if a subscriber subscribes to wireless, PSTN, and IP network services,table 980 may include network categories for each of such networks.Thus, by accessing or querying table 980, it may be determined whatcommunication capability a particular subscriber to suchtelecommunications service provider has for communicating with thirdparties. For example, if a subscriber subscribes to both PSTN andvoice-over IP voice services with such telecommunication serviceprovider, such information can be determined by accessing table 980.Although the information in table 980 has been described relative to asingle telecommunication service provider, if known, informationregarding a subscriber's services with additional telecommunicationservice providers may also be included within table 980. For example, auser of system 900 may be a subscriber of PSTN voice services from onetelecommunication service provider and a subscriber of IP networkservices and associated voice over IP services from a secondtelecommunication service provider. If such information is known, table980 may include such additional information. In one embodiment, table980 is similar to table 80 of called party entries described relative toFIG. 2.

Telephone device 922 may be any suitable telephone device forcommunicating voice, video, text, email, or other messaging services. Inone embodiment, telephone device 922 is similar to telephone device 20as described in FIG. 1. Similarly, telephone device 922 may utilizecertain aspects of the functionality described relative to FIGS. 4, 5,and 6. Telephone device 922 may have one or more network interfaces orconnections to different types of networks such as wireless network 916,PSTN network 918, and IP network 920. Thus, for example, telephonedevice 922 may be associated with a particular subscriber of atelecommunication service provider who subscribes to certain networkservices associated with wireless network 916, PSTN network 918, and/orIP network 920. In one embodiment, such information regarding theservices associated with telephone device 922 may be identified in table980 of called party entries within network device 914. Thus, table 980of called party entries may track the communications capabilities oftelephone device 922 and the network connections available to suchtelephone device 922.

In operation, system 900 allows an alternative method of networkcategory matching to that previously described. In operation, anincoming telephone call is received by either wireless network 902, PSTNnetwork 904, or IP network 906. When such telephone call is received atrouter 908, router 910, or router 912 as a call connection request, thereceiving router communicates the called party's telephone number orother identifier to network device 914. Network device 914 accessestable 980 of called party entries by such telephone number or identifierto determine the different ways in which the called party maycommunicate a voice telephone call. In particular, network device 914determines if a particular telephone device 922 associated with thecalled party may communicate voice calls over a connection to a networkof the same network category of the network 902, 904, or 906 from whichrouter 908, router 910, or router 912 received the call connectionrequest. Thus, if a call connection request was received over IP network906 at router 912, router 912 would pass the called party identifier tonetwork device 914 for network device 914 to use to access table 980 todetermine if the called party's telephone device 922 is capable of alsocommunicating over an IP network using, for example, voice-over IPprotocol.

In one embodiment, if a called party has one or more telephone numbersor network addresses associated with the ability to communicate voicecommunications, network device 914 may substitute a particular telephonenumber or IP address from that actually included in the call connectionrequest. For example, if a call is received from IP network 906 atrouter 912 using a telephone number associated with a PSTN networkconnection, network device 914 may instead redirect the call to atelephone number associated with an IP network connection such that thenetwork category of IP network 906 is matched to a corresponding IPnetwork such as IP network 920. In such a manner, incoming calls may bererouted to alternative connections associated with a particularsubscriber of network services to ensure that no conversion needs tooccur from, for example, a voice-over IP protocol to an analog format orother format associated with, for example, a PSTN network. Decisionlogic may be included in network device 914 to take into accountadditional factors, such as an increase in the cost of a call.

Although telephone device 922 is illustrated as a single telephonedevice and previously described as being similar to telephone device 20,telephone device 922 may in fact be multiple communication devicesassociated with a particular subscriber of the telecommunication serviceprovider or called party. For example, a called party may have a cellphone, a voice over IP phone, and a traditional PSTN telephone handset.Even with such separate devices, system 900, and network device 914 morespecifically, may still implement the features of the present inventionby routing calls or redirecting calls to a particular telephone device922. For example, a telephone call originally intended for a PSTNtelephone may instead be routed to a number associated with a separatetelephone device used for voice over IP services.

FIG. 10 illustrates one embodiment of a process for directing incomingvoice calls to a particular network connection associated with a calledparty. In step 1010, a call connection request is received at a networkdevice from a network associated with a particular network category. Instep 1020, a telephone number or identifier included as part of the callconnection request is communicated to a network device. In step 1030,the network device determines the types of network connections availableto a telephone device associated with a called party to which the callconnection request is directed. In step 1040, the network devicedetermines if any of such available network connections are of the samenetwork category as the network from which the call connection requestwas received. In step 950, if there is a match of network categoriesbetween the network from which the call connection request is receivedand a network to which a telephone device of the called party hasaccess, the call is directed to the telephone device over the networkconnection associated with the matched network. In step 970, if there isno match of network categories, the call connection request proceedsaccording to the original received telephone number or identifier, or toa default network associated with the called party. In one embodiment,call connection requests to a particular called party may be defaultedto a PSTN network if no match of network categories is determined. Instep 980, a call connection request is received by a telephone deviceassociated with the called party and call set up proceeds.

There has been described a system and method for distributing electronicinformation. It should be understood that the particular embodimentsdescribed within this specification are for purposes of example andshould not be construed to limit the invention. Further, it is evidentthat those skilled in the art may now make numerous uses andmodifications of the specific embodiment described, without departingfrom the inventive concepts. For example, particular additional servers,computers, networks and the like may be used to convey the functions andrelated stored information without departing from the inventiveconcepts.

1. A method of initiating a call, the method comprising: receiving an identifier associated with a called party, the identifier being generated by a telephone handset; determining a network category associated with the called party; and generating an instruction operable to initiate a call by the telephone handset on a selected one of at least two networks accessible for communication by the telephone handset, wherein the selected one of the at least two networks is selected by the instruction in response to the determined network category associated with the called party.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises communicating the instruction to the telephone handset.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises communicating the instruction to a device associated with the telephone handset.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the network category further comprises querying a database to determine the network category.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the network category further comprises determining a network over which a handset of the called party communicates voice calls.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the network category further comprises determining whether the called party utilizes a digital packet telephony network or another network.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected one of the at least two networks is selected to match the network category associated with the called party.
 8. A method of initiating a call, the method comprising: determining if a dialed number is accessible over a voice-over Internet Protocol network; selecting an origination network from a voice-over Internet Protocol network and an alternative network in response to the determination; and initiating a voice call to the dialed number over the origination network.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein determining if a dialed number is accessible over a voice-over Internet Protocol network further comprises: receiving an identifier; obtaining dialing information associated with the identifier; and determining a destination network associated with the dialing information.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein determining if a dialed number is accessible over a voice-over Internet Protocol network further comprises: receiving an identifier; querying a database in response to the received identifier; and determining a destination network in response to the database query.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein selecting an origination network comprises selecting an origination network in response to the determination, the origination network selected to configure a call to be connected using a voice-over Internet Protocol network.
 12. A device for determining a network for a call, the device comprising: a database of one or more identifiers, each of the one or more identifiers associated with a called party and further associated with a network category; a processor in communication with the database, the processor operable to receive one of the one or more identifiers, query the database using the one of the one or more identifiers, and retrieve the network category associated with the one of the one or more identifiers; and wherein the processor is further operable to generate an instruction in response to the retrieved network category, the instruction operable to select a network for connecting an outbound call to the called party associated with the received one of the one or more identifiers.
 13. The device of claim 12, wherein the device is an integrated access device.
 14. The device of claim 12, wherein the device is an integrated access device, the integrated access device including an interface to at least two network connections.
 15. The device of claim 12, wherein the device is an integrated access device, the integrated access device including an interface to at least a digital telephony network and one other network.
 16. A base station in wireless communication with a handset, the base station comprising: a memory operable to store an identifier received from the handset, the identifier associated with a called party; a processor in communication with the memory, the processor operable to initiate an instruction to communicate the identifier to a remote network device and to receive a network category in response to the communicated identifier; and a network interface in communication with processor, the network interface operable to select a network to communicate a voice call, the network being selected in response to the network category received by the processor.
 17. The base station of claim 16, and further comprising a called ID system, the called ID system operable to display the network category, the network category being associated with the called party.
 18. The base station of claim 16, and further comprising decision logic stored in the memory, the decision logic operable to be executed by the processor to determine that the called party has more than one network category associated with the called party.
 19. The base station of claim 16, and further comprising decision logic stored in the memory, the decision logic operable to be executed by the processor to determine if more than one network category is associated with the called party, the decision logic further operable to be executed by the processor to select one of the more than one network category to communicate a voice call.
 20. The base station of claim 16, and further comprising decision logic stored in the memory, the decision logic operable to be executed by the processor to determine more than one network category associated with the called party, the decision logic further operable to be executed by the processor to select one of the more than one network categories to communicate a voice call, the selection being in response to determining the cheapest network to communicate the voice call. 